High Court Bulletin April to June 2011 (Provisional Figures)

Contents

Chancery

Queen’s Bench

Judicial Reviews

Probate

Wardship and Adoption

Matrimonial

Bails

Patients

Official Solicitors

Sitting days and times

High Court figures on Children’s Order cases, Crown Court cases, bail applications and appeals appear in other bulletins.

In the tables relating to time intervals, the total time from issue to disposal may not equal that of the individual time periods due to some dates not being applicable.

Figures are run from an administrative database and may change due to late returns and further validations.

Summary

Chancery

Queen’s Bench

Judicial Reviews

Probate

Wardship and Adoption

Matrimonial

Patients

Official Solicitors

Sitting days and times

Chancery

Table 1: Chancery cases and applications received
Case Mortgages 939
Other land and property 17
Trade and business 8
Trusts 2
Other 81
Total 1047
Application Notice of appointment 818
Summons 349
Notice of motion 14
Exparte application 95
Injunction 4
Total 1280

Table 2: Chancery cases setdown
Case Other land and property 12
Trade and business 3
Other 25
Total 40

Table 3: Chancery cases and applications disposed
  High Court Judge Master Office disposal Total
Case Mortgages 3 616 1 620
Other land and property 17 1 4 22
Trade and business   1 1 2
Trusts 1 4   5
Other 34 6 13 53
Total 55 628 19 702
Application Notice of appointment 5 37 4 46
Summons 67 259 1 327
Notice of motion 10 1   11
Exparte application 3 90 1 94
Injunction 1     1
Total 86 387 6 479

Table 4: Bankruptcy cases and applications received
Case Petition by another person 338
Petition by debtor 230
Other petition 15
Originating application 62
Other 30
Total 675
Application Notice of motion 1
Ordinary application 220
Certificate of automatic discharge 4
Other 1
Total 226

Table 5: Bankruptcy cases and applications disposed
  High Court Judge Master Office disposal Total
Case Petition by another person   376 1 377
Petition by debtor   237   237
Other petition   27   27
Originating application   19   19
Other   28   28
Total   687 1 688
Application Ordinary application 2 204   206
Certificate of automatic discharge     4 4
Other   3   3
Total 2 207 4 213

Table 6: Companies cases and applications received
Case Winding up petition 96
Other petitions 5
Originating summons 21
Other 69
Total 191
Application Notice of motion 1
Ordinary application 15
Other 6
Total 22

Table 7: Companies cases and applications disposed
  High Court Judge Master Office disposal Total
Case Winding up petition 2 94   96
Other petitions   12   12
Originating summons 2 12 1 15
Other 6 42   48
Total 10 160 1 171
Application Notice of motion 1     1
Ordinary application 1 9   10
Other 2 4   6
Total 4 13   17

Table 8: Time intervals in weeks
  Chancery Bankruptcy Companies
Case Application Case Application Case Application
Issue to first listing 22 5 5 3 6 1
First listing to disposal 8 6 5 4 5 4
Issue to disposal 33 9 10 6 11 5

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Queen’s Bench

Table 9: Queen's Bench cases and applications received
Writs and originating summons Negligence 1015
Breach 27
Road injuries 291
Personal injuries 71
Monies due 322
Other 56
Total 1782
Miscellaneous Foreign judgement 87
Other 8
Total 95
Applications Summons/interlocutory applications 488
Remittals and removals 183
Exparte applications 102
Other 119
Total 892

Table 10: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons received by amount claimed
  Unliquidated £1,000-2,999 £3,000-14,999 Over £15,000 Total
Negligence 1013   1 1 1015
Breach 25     2 27
Road injuries 291       291
Personal injuries 71       71
Monies due 29 2 90 201 322
Other 53   1 2 56
Total 1482 2 92 206 1782

Table 11: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons setdown by amount claimed
  Unliquidated £3,000-14,999 Over £15,000 Total
Negligence 373     373
Breach 3   2 5
Road injuries 45 1 3 49
Personal injuries 28 3 1 32
Monies due     3 3
Other 6   1 7
Total 455 4 10 469

Table 12: Queen's Bench cases and applications disposed
  High Court Judge Master Office disposal Default judgement Total
Writs and originating summons Negligence 459 102 294 17 872
Breach 4   3 2 9
Road injuries 75 2 45 4 126
Personal injuries 43 3 57 2 105
Monies due 14   13 168 195
Other 24 2 6 1 33
Total 619 109 418 194 1340
Miscellaneous Foreign judgement   4     4
Total   4     4
Applications Summons/interlocutory applications 54 466     520
Remittals and removals 3 201     204
Exparte applications 15 59     74
Other 44 75     119
Total 116 801     917

Excludes commercial actions

Table 13: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons disposed of by amount
  Unliquidated £1,000-2,999 £3,000-14,999 Over £15,000 Total
High Court Judge Negligence 388 5 25 41 459
Breach 1   2 1 4
Road injuries 9   11 55 75
Personal injuries 23   4 16 43
Monies due 9     5 14
Other 11     13 24
Master Negligence 102       102
Road injuries 2       2
Personal injuries 2     1 3
Other 2       2
Default judgement Negligence 17       17
Breach 1     1 2
Road injuries 4       4
Personal injuries 2       2
Monies due 6 4 45 113 168
Other 1       1
Total 580 9 87 246 922

Excludes commercial actions

Table 14: Time intervals in weeks
  Writs and originating summons Miscelleanous Applications
Issue to setdown 95 . .
Issue to first listing 95 . 3
First listing to disposal 19 . 6
Issue to disposal 167 0 7

Excludes default judgements and office disposals

Due to rounding and not all writs and originating summons having a set-down date, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Table 15: Queen's Bench cases received into commercial list
Negligence 8
Breach of Contract 5
Monies due 24
Other 5
Total 42

Table 16: Queen's Bench commercial actions setdown
Breach of Contract 2
Monies due 2
Other 1
Total 5

Table 17: Queen's Bench commercial actions disposed
  High Court Judge Office disposal Default judgement Total
Negligence 26 1   27
Breach of Contract 11     11
Monies due 20   2 22
Other 11     11
Total 68 1 2 71

Table 18: Time intervals in weeks
  Commercial actions
Received to Entry to commercial list 68
Entry to commercial list to first listing 19
First listing to disposal 55
Received to disposal 142

Excludes default judgements and office disposals

Due to rounding and not all writs and originating summons having a set-down date, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Judicial Reviews

Table 19: Judicial Reviews applications received
Application for leave to apply for judicial review 52
Application for judicial review 20

Table 20: Judicial Reviews applications disposed
  Granted Withdrawn/Refused/Dismissed Other Total
Application for leave to apply for judicial review 20 17 9 46
Application for judicial review 4 11 11 26

Table 21: Time intervals in weeks
  Application for leave to apply for judicial review Application for judicial review
Issue to first listing 3 7
First listing to disposal 4 42
Issue to disposal 6 48

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Probate

Table 22: Probate grants issued in non-contentious proceedings
  District registry Probate Northern Ireland
By solicitor Personal By solicitor Personal
Grant of administration     1   1
Letters of adminstration with will annexed 12   51   63
Letters of adminstration with will annexed (DBN)     2   2
Letters of adminstration 56 6 257 42 361
Grant of probate 185 11 1041 77 1314
Letters of adminstration (DBN) 1   6   7
Total grants issued 254 17 1358 119 1748

Wardship and adoption

Table 23: Adoption cases and applications received
Adoption Order Application 14
Child Abduction Originating Summons 2
Freeing Order Application 4
Originating Summons (General) 1
Interlocutory Application 2
Wardship Originating Summons 4
Total 27

Table 24: Adoption cases and applications disposed
  High Court Judge Master Total
Adoption Order Application 14   14
Child Abduction Originating Summons 2   2
Children (Ni) Order Application 1   1
Freeing Order Application 5   5
Originating Summons (General) 1   1
Human Fertilisation Originating Summons 1   1
Interlocutory Application 2   2
Wardship Originating Summons 2 3 5
Total 28 3 31

Table 25: Family homes and domestic violence cases and applications received
App For Occup/Non Mol 2
Exparte App For Occup/Non Mol 7
Article 24 Vary/Discharge non-molestation order 1
Total 10

Table 26: Family homes and domestic violence cases and applications disposed
  High Court Judge Master Total
App For Occup/Non Mol 2 1 3
Exparte App For Occup/Non Mol   9 9
Article 24 Vary/Discharge non-molestation order 1   1
Total 3 10 13

Table 27: Time intervals in weeks
  Adoption Family Homes And Domestic Violence
Issue to first listing 14 1
First listing to disposal 14 7
Issue to disposal 29 9

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Matrimonial

Table 28: Divorce petitions received
  Filed by Total
Wife Husband
Divorce Petition 2 years with consent 139 96 235
5 years separation 93 91 184
Adultery 13   13
Unreasonable behaviour 99 19 118
Combination of grounds/other 41 15 56
Total 385 221 606

Table 29: Divorce petitions by type of Decree Nisi
  Found by Total
Wife Husband Both
Decree Nisi 2 years with consent 50 46   96
5 years separation 27 24   51
Adultery 5     5
Unreasonable behaviour 48 2 1 51
Combination of grounds/other 45 18 4 67
Nullity Combination of grounds/other   1   1
Judicial Separation Unreasonable behaviour 1     1
Total 176 91 5 272

Table 30: Divorce petitions by number of absolutes issued
  Found by Total
Wife Husband Both
Divorce Petition 2 years with consent 55 38   93
5 years separation 27 31   58
Adultery 2 2   4
Unreasonable behaviour 48 5 1 54
Combination of grounds/other 49 13   62
Total 181 89 1 271

Table 31: Matrimonial applications received
Application Combination of grounds/other 6
Ancillary relief 155
Matrimonial application 154
Other 17
Total 332

Table 32: Matrimonial applications disposed
  Judge Master Total
Application Combination of grounds/other 4 1 5
Ancillary relief 1 175 176
Matrimonial application 8 129 137
Other 6 1 7
Total 19 306 325

Table 33: Time intervals in weeks for divorce petitions
  Divorce Petition
Issue to first listing 36
First listing to date decree granted 4
Issue to date decree granted 40
Date decree granted to date absolute issued 8

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Table 34: Time intervals in weeks for divorce applications
  Combination of grounds/other Ancillary relief Matrimonial application Other
Issue to first listing 0 5 4 0
First listing to disposal 5 52 6 7
Issue to disposal 5 57 10 7

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

High Court Bail

Table 35: Number of bail applications received
Bail application 332
Bail pending appeal to county court 11
Compassionate bail application 66
Application to revoke bail 2
Bail variation 128
Total 539
Table 36: Number of bail applications disposed in chambers
  Granted Refused Revoke Other Total
Bail variation 67 1 1 23 92
Total 67 1 1 23 92
Table 37: Number of bail applications disposed of in court
  Granted Refused Other Total
Bail application 129 144 20 293
Bail pending appeal to county court 4 6 1 11
Compassionate bail application 36 18 2 56
Application to revoke bail   2   2
Bail variation 25 8 2 35
Total 194 178 25 397

Patients

Table 38: Patients workload figures
New referrals 183
EPA applications received 122
Orders issued 287
Certificates issued 1841
Reviews completed 457
Visits 4

Official Solicitors Office

Table 39: Official Solicitor Statistics
Correspondence received 3610
New Referrals 4
OCP cases – OS instructed 57
OS appointed Controller Ad interim 3
Certificates drafted 754
OS appointed Full Controller 3

Sitting days and times

Table 40: High Court sitting days
Children Order 28
Other Family 57
Appeals 6
Queen's Bench 151
Chancery 49
Bails 79
Crown 72
Judicial Reviews 41
Criminal Appeals 27
Civil Appeals 30
Total 540
Table 41: High Court sitting times
Children Order 95:56:00
Other family 175:22:00
Appeals 24:35:00
Queens Bench 431:55:00
Chancery 150:28:00
Bails 126:19:00
Crown 178:45:00
Judicial reviews 80:45:00
Criminal appeals 48:14:00
Civil appeals 49:10:00
Total 1361:44:00

Data source and validations:

Data from the Integrated Courts Operations System (ICOS) are used for this publication. This system has been chosen as it is the main system within the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS). The data are input to this system on a daily basis. A download from this system is supplied to the Statistics and Research team on a weekly basis on flat files.

This information is downloaded via SPSS and validations are produced from this system to ensure that the data are reliable and robust for use. Any inconsistencies are reported back to individual court offices and if required, any necessary amendments are made to the data. Once, these amendments have been checked, computer syntax is then used to produce the tables in the bulletin. The aggregated total figures in the bulletin are produced from the computer syntax. The data are broken down by court location as this is the established way of producing and presenting these data.

To ensure that timely data are used, the latest available extract is used to compile this bulletin.

For further information on this publication please contact:

A Mallon
Statistics and Research
Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LA

Tel: 028 9072 8928